The Authors’ Knot Program, February - November 2026

Registration is open now for our intimate 10-month online writing program for thought leaders, memoirists, novelists. and heart-led visionaries working on a book or another “big project.”

Learn more and apply to join the Authors’ Knot.

OUR STORY

It’s the winter solstice in the northern part of the globe. Christmas is just days away. This time of year is so steeped in story. Our culture is shaped by the nativity story in so many ways.

And yet, we’re shaped by the storyless mysteries too, like the 5000 year old passage tomb of Newgrange which was built to capture the rising sun on the Winter Solstice.

Sitting with these two late December phenomena, the story of Bethlehem and the alignment of Newgrange, I invite you to consider Omen Days and the 12 Rays of Solstice, two practices that can help you reflect and prepare for the new year.

IN THIS EPISODE

1. The Christmas story describing the birth of Christ endures because it’s the foundation of a faith, but also because it contains the elements of a good story
2. Calm Tóibín’s novella The Shortest Day, a fictional account of the modern discovery of the Newgrange solstice alignment by Professor Michael O’Kelly in 1967.
3. Cailin Matthew’s description of the medieval Omen Days practice, from December 26 - January 6
4. An alternative: start searching out twelve signs over twelve days starting on solstice, from December 21-January 1, as a way to gain insight into what each of the twelve months might offer.

JOIN US ON JANUARY 3

1. Join us for the January 3 Reflect & Envision Retreat!
2. It's open to all paid Myth Is Medicine subscribers. Subscribe or upgrade your subscription at https://mythismedicine.substack.com/
3. During this this three-hour event (held noon - 3 PM ET via Zoom) we'll have the time and space to reflect on the year that was, root into the moment that is, and imagine the year that will be.
4. We will weave the Omen Days practice into our time together.

Music at the start of the show is by Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy: billyandbeth.com

1. 1:1 Writing Coaching: If you are working on a spiritual memoir or wellness professional or a creative entrepreneur who wants to use stories to build your business, book a free consultation with Marisa. Learn more at writingcoachmarisa.com
2. Learn about group writing opportunities: www.marisagoudy.com/writing-groups

The Authors’ Knot Program, February - November 2026

Registration is open now for our intimate 10-month online writing program for thought leaders, memoirists, novelists. and heart-led visionaries working on a book or another “big project.”

Learn more and apply to join the Authors’ Knot.

Our Story

In this original tale by Erica O’Reilly, we meet An Chailleach, the ancient grandmother spirit of Irish folklore. Though the Cailleach is often associated with fierce energy, she is also the gentlest of goddesses. In this story, she comes to the aid of a little boy who needs her help navigating his first Christmas without his mother.

Our Guest

Erica O’Reilly is an Irish-Canadian storyteller, spiritual counsellor, and ordained minister whose work is rooted in the transformative power of story. Supported by the ancestral Irish traditions of the Mná Feasa (Wise Women), the Mná Ghlùline (Soul Midwives), the Mná Leigheas (Medicine Women), and the Áes Dána (People of the Arts), she believes deeply in facilitating experiences where souls feel seen, heard, and held. She lives on the unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabeg Nation

As the Creative Visionary of Into the Circle Theatre, Erica weaves Irish culture, folklore, and mythology into contemporary storytelling that honours feminine wisdom and ancestral memory.

Stay in touch with Erica by subscribing to her gorgeous newsletter and podcast, Into the Circle with Erica O’Reilly on Substack.

IN THIS EPISODE

1. A conversation between two storytellers about heart, soul, and craft involved in the creative process
2. How stories arrive as medicine for the teller, especially when navigating grief and the complexities Christmas without a beloved parent
3. Erica's relationship with the Cailleach and how she offer "steady bones" through early grief—a grandmother spirit who offers both fierce presence and tender support
4. The art of staying in relationship with stories across seasons and trusting they remain "in the wings" waiting for their moment to be told again
5. How oral storytellers navigate multiple formats and platforms (live performance, Substack, podcast) to honor both the spirit of stories and the diverse ways listeners need to receive them
6. The practice of repetition and re-telling as a way to honor a story's living essence rather than treating it as one-time “content”

Music at the start of the show is by Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy: billyandbeth.com

1. 1:1 Writing Coaching: If you are working on a spiritual memoir or wellness professional or a creative entrepreneur who wants to use stories to build your...

The Authors’ Knot Program, February - November 2026

Registration is open now for our intimate 10-month online writing program for thought leaders, memoirists, novelists. and heart-led visionaries working on a book or another “big project.”

Learn more and apply to join the Authors’ Knot.

Amanda Carmody shares three Christmas stories from her uncle, Irish philosopher John Moriarty. We follow a five year-old John to the barn on Christmas morning, meet a local Moyvane man who shows a sense of “alarming humanity” at Christmas mass, and walk with John and a five year-old Amanda to Granny’s house to light the Christmas candle in the window.

OUR GUEST

Amanda Carmody joins us to speak about her uncle and dear friend, John Moriarty. She knows firsthand how John Moriarty’s work can be a shelter, a companion, and a deep reservoir of meaning through the dark night of the soul.

Amanda spent meaningful time with John and later devoted many years to studying his wisdom teachings. Over the past six years, she has shared that work widely—through institutes, festivals, reading groups, workshops, blogs, and online classes. She has a background in visual display and design and is also an author and illustrator, an co-editor of John Moriarty: Grounded in Story.

She is the mother of three remarkable children: Damien, Sarah, and Anna. Being a mother and carer is Amanda’s first calling, and it is from this lived experience that she speaks.

Connect with Amanda and the vibrant John Moriarty Community on Facebook

• The first story of John as a five year old appears in his autobiography Nostos and serves as a foundational story that informs so many of his other teachings and stories
• The power and presence of the lapwings, a species of birds that was once ubiquitous around Ireland is now profoundly endangered
• Manchán Magan’s podcast series about John Moriarty, The Bog Shaman
• The influences of indigenous North American stories on John’s work, particularly after his time in Western Canada. Resonances between John’s work and that of Robin Wall Kimmerer and her ideas around naming and how names transform relationships
• John’s most important message: this spirit of ecumenicism. Written on his tombstone, "Mitakuye Oyasin" (the Lakota phrase, “we are all related”): nothing and no one is excluded from the sacred, not the animals in the barn, not the darkness, not our crooked humanity.
• The nature of love, and how to love people beyond projections into loving people in their sacred otherness.

Music at the start of the show is by Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy: billyandbeth.com

• 1:1 Writing Coaching: If you are working on a spiritual memoir or wellness professional or a creative entrepreneur who wants to use stories to build your business, book a free consultation with Marisa. Learn more at writingcoachmarisa.com
• Learn about group writing opportunities: